Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Remarks.

A collective of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for reported anti-Jewish comments he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the grave risk of hateful words – because we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a letter.

"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."

A Pointed Inquiry

The letter poses blunt questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to bigoted harassment?"

Those Who Signed

The group of 11 survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.

The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Growing Accounts

This public letter follows the dismissal of similar allegations by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.

After the story broke, additional former pupils have spoken out. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now claim they observed bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes making a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have likewise spoken publicly with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The survivors' letter asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and say sorry."

"People who seek to govern our country should never create division by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."